California Schemin'

Every Scot knows the feeling. Down in London, ready for their big moment, the protagonists are introduced as “from Scotland,” when everyone else has their city mentioned. Comments are made about how hard it is to understand their accents. There’s a particular sort of laugh that suggests it was ridiculous of them to think they’d be taken seriously there. And yet back at home it’s not much better. “Gavin, ya weirdo!” shout the wee neds chasing one of them across a Dundee scheme. “Stupid hip hop wank shite!”

Gavin (Seamus McLean Ross) wants out. He dreams of fame and fortune, and to him that means London. Things are a little different for his pal Billy (Samuel Bottomley), whose relationship with girlfriend Mary (Lucy Halliday) keeps him close to his roots, but both are devoted to making music, and feel strongly that the quality of their music is not the problem. It’s just that nobody wants to hear rap from Scotland. Things would be different, they decide, if they could successfully pass themselves off as being from LA.

Loosely based on a true story, the film centres on the difference between an abstract righteous plan to hit the big time whilst exposing prejudice in the industry, and the reality of enacting that plan in the company of real, likeable people, including earnest, enthusiastic young manages Tess (Rebekah Murrell). It also charts the gradual breakdown of the lads’ friendship as Gavin grows increasingly starstruck, coming to think that he’s better than folk in Dundee, whilst Billy misses Mary, laments the mess that his musical success is making of their relationship, and increasing comes to feel that his personal identity is compromised.

There’s a good deal here that will make more sense to you if you’re Scottish yourself or if you come from another sidelined community. The film deals effectively with the Scottish cringe, that internalised sense of inferiority, and we see the damage it does to Gavin as he becomes increasingly divorced from reality, taking his method acting approach way too far. By contrast, we get James McAvoy (also making his directorial début here) hamming it up as a record company executive with Malcolm Tucker-style dialogue, his accent plainly working in his favour.

The film is impressive in the way that it condenses a familiar rock’n’roll star journey into a fraction of the space, with Billy and Gavin – or Silibil and Brains, as they call themselves – barely tasting their riches before they’re back in rags. They do manage to meet a handful of celebrities, tell tall tales about many more and, in Gavin’s case, find time to indulge in the sex and drugs side of things (Billy limiting himself to M&Ms). The lads’ delight at their early success is engaging, and both stars acquit themselves well. The last act is a little drawn out but gets there in the end – and, in doing so, might help viewers understand why Scotland is a powerhouse of musical talent, even if we do mostly keep it for ourselves.

California Schemin screened as part of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Reviewed on: 15 Sep 2025